Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers have absconded from hotels or other similar accommodation since 1st January 2023; and in how many of those cases her Department has lost contact with the asylum seeker.

The Home Office does not publish a breakdown of statistics which disaggregates the number of adult asylum seekers leaving accommodation providing under Section 98. We have a statutory duty to provide support and accommodation to destitute asylum seekers while their claim for asylum is being considered. The Home Office does not hold or detain asylum seekers in hotels or any other asylum accommodation. Individuals are free to leave if they wish and the Home Office has no power to detain those who wish to leave.